Toy



March 28, 1961 B H, R 2,977,123

TOY

Filed July 27, 1959 zd/Z/ Emu. /m

Unir a es [Q TOY William F. Bub, Jr., Wankegan, Ill., as signor to Marvin I. Glass, Chicago, Ill. t Filed July 27, 195a, Ser. No. 829,654

Claims. (c1. 273-98 This invention relates to a toy for use in challenging the manipulative dexterity of a child or other person of any age.

2,977,123 Patented Mar. as,- 1961 when a vertical line extending down from the cehter of the top of the tube fails to intersect the cross sectional area *of the tube at the point where it is supported in the hand of the user.

The ball feature and its support may be made in the following manner. The ball supporting base may consistof' a cup element 12 having an integral sleeve-like extension or nipple 13 which is a fairly snug fit inthe In its preferred form, the invention includes as one of its principal features, a flexiblepole, stick or rod, of such form and construction that when positioned with its axis vertical 'and supported at the bottom only,.the

unsupported upper portion of the stick will have a tend- 13 of the cup. The ball 19 which is a light-weight ency to bend over into a non-vertical position.-;

Another feature involves the use of a tethered ball 1 or similar object which a skillful operator is able to manipulate so as to seat the ball on a suitable support at the upper end of the stick. I .3

. The stick is preferably made in the form ofv a lightweight tube of such diameter that it may be grasped in the hand of the user at different distances from the lower end of the stick when it is held with its axis vertical, so as to adjust the device for use by persons of different age or of varying skill. in the preferred embodiment herein described, the stick is formed of a series of convolutions, for example, of resilient strip material so proportioned and so constructed that the stick or tube has great lateral flexibility, but has only slight compressibility, while adjacent convolutions can separate readily so that the stick will bend out of alignment with its vertical axis when the user lacks the skill to hold it in an axially vertical position.

In the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and accompany this description:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying all of the features which have been referred to, the device being shown in an off-vertical position;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same device showing the stick at an axially vertical position with the ball supported at the upper end of the stick;

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, the principal element of the device comprises the juggling stick 10, which, in the present instance, is made of a continuous strip of plastic tape 11 wound up to produce a tube of about three feet in length and a generally constant transverse cross section about three-quarter inch in diameter, with a wall thickness of about one-sixteenth of an inch. It may be conveniently constructed of flat strip material having a fair amount of flexibility, while being sufliciently resilient and having such form-sustaining ability as to prevent distortion as to shape or dimensions when it is used.

From the standpoint of simplicity in construction, it is preferred to form the convolutions from a single continuous strip of tape-like material extending from one end of the stick to the other so that the edges of the adjacent convolutions will substantially contact each other. while requiring virtually no significant longitudinal pull to separate the convolutions, so that While the diameter of the stick is maintained substantially constant at top of the tubular stick 10, so that it may be removed or replaced, while it will hold its position in the tube while the stick is. manipulated. The lower end of the sleeve 13 is made with a flange-like closure 14, which is cut away, as shown inFigures 4 and 5, to provide a bottom opening 15 and a slot 16 narrow enough to resiliently hold the tether string 17. Said tether 17 has a knot 18 at its' lower end so that the bottom of the tether will be anchored in the bottom of the sleeve extension sphere ofany suitable material is provided with a dia m'etric'hole 20 for accommodating the outer end'of the tether string 17, the extremity ofwhich is knotted as shown at 21 to hold the ball on the end of the string.

f 'In order to prevent cheating by permitting the effective length of the stick to be unduly reduced so as to make the use of the device too simple or easy, it is recommended that the stick always be employedwith a handle 22 having a stop flange 23 which will prevent the 1 hand ofthe user from encroaching upwardly. Said han-.

dle member 22 is made of a sufliciently compressible material so that the grasping of the handle by the user will prevent the handle from sliding along the tube. At the same time, the handle 22 may be of a sufliciently loose fit so that it can be adjusted along the length of the tube to suit the skill of the user.

It will be understood that the dimensions and other details mentioned in respect of the preferred embodiment herein described may be varied not only in accordance with the manipulative skill required of the user, but also in accordance with the character of the material of which the stick is constructed, and in accordance with the method used in manufacturing a flexible juggling stick of the type required.

The various parts of the toy may be made of any suitable plastic. A suitable plastic for the pole is the material sold under the trade name Tenite. A helical tube of the type referred to, and made from Tenite, can be purchased on the open market.

Various of the features of the invention believed to be new are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A juggling toy which comprises a length of resilien-t flexible cylindrical tube formed of a series of convolutions of a material which is flexible and resilient, but relatively incompressible and inextensible, said material being so wound around the axis of the tube that the edges of adjacent convolutions substantially contact each other, but without requiring the application of any significant axial longitudinal pull to separate the convolutions, a ball capable of being seated on one end of said tube, a tether loosely connecting said ball to said one end of said tube, and a handle in the form of a sleeve adjustable onthe outside of said length so as to vary the spacing from said one end of said tube, the length and flexibility of said tube being such that when held by said handle the upper portion thereof bends when said tube is not in a vertical position.

2. A juggling toy for testing manipulative dexterity comprising a resilient flexible cylindrical tube adapted to be held at a position spaced from one end thereof, said g inherent tendency to maintain I its axial straightness when it is subjected to any force tube being about three feet long and about three-quarter inch in diameter, and formed of a series of convolutions of substantially flat tape about one-sixteenth of an inch thick and which is flexible and resilient, but relatively incompressible and inextens'ible, said tape-being so wouaq around the axis of the tube that the edges of adjacent convolutio'nsof the tape substantially contact each other, but Without requiring the application of any significant axial longitudinal pull to break said contact, a ball, a cup adapted to support said ball and having an extension adapted to fit within said one end of said tube, and a tether for anchoring said ball to said extension, but long enough to permit said ball to leave said cup, said tube being of such length and flexibility that the uppertportion thereof will bend when said tube is not in a vertical position.

3. A juggling toy comprising an elongated stick which has a generally constant transverse cross section along the length thereof and which is adapted to be held at a position spaced from the upper 'e'nd'thereof and has laterally resilient flexibility along the length thereof between said upper end and said holding position, a ball capable of being seated on said upper end of said stick, and a tether loosely connecting said ball to said upper end of said stick, the degree of such laterally resilient flexibility being such that when said stick is held to locate said stick in a generally vertical position so as to contain said ball on said upper end of said stick, the portion of said stick adjacent said upper end will bend from the generally vertical position so as to unseat said ball from said upper end of said stick.

e 4. A juggling toy comprising an elongated stick which has a generally constant transverse cross section and has laterally resilient flexibility along the length thereof, a handle movably carried by said stick for adjustable posithan; ilati've is the upper an of said stick to my the effective length thereof so as to permit variation in the efiective lateral flexibility thereof, a ball capable of being seated on said upper end of said stick, and a tether loosely connecting said ball to said upper end of said stick, the minimum degree of such laterally resilient flexibility being such that when said handle is held to locate said stick in a generally vertical position so as to contain said ball on ,said upper end of said stick, the portion of said stick adjacent said upper efid jwill bend from the generally vertical position so as to unseat said ball from said upper'end of said stick.

5. A juggling toy comprising an elo'ngatedtube which 7 is adapted to be held at a position spaced from the upper end thereof and which is defined by an elongated, convoluted tape of material which is transversely resiliently xib tea de re u t w e Said a ai he d e erally upright, the portion of said tube adjacent said upper end will bend undcr its own weight, a ball, a cup adapted to support said ball connected to said u per end of said tube, and a tether loosely connecting said ball to a ain within said clip, whereby saidtube is manipulatabl to said ball in saidcup despite the bending of the portion of said tube adjacent said upper end.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 7 674,303 Morgan May 14, 1901 1,955,677 Izan Apr. 17, 1934 2;Q02,108 Child May 21, 1935 2,097,106 Stewart Oct. 26, 1937 J FOREIGN PATENTS 24.7 8 7 G at r ta n --,--.-j=- 19,10 498,105 Germany M-ay 19, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,977, 123 March 28 1961 William F; Buh Jr,

s I It is hereby certified thgt error appears in the .above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent. should read as "corrected below.

Column 4 line 23, for malin read maintain A,

Signed and sealed this 26th day of September 1961 (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC- 

